The Phone Call
by Tockie16
Summary: This is the phone conversation between Caroline and DuPlessis in sereis 4 when she tells him that she won't be returning to Africa because of her grief over Sarah.It's short but enjoy! Please R&R! Every reveiw is valued greatly by me!


**This is the phone conversation between Caroline and Dup in series 4. I always wandered what she said to him, so I've come up with this. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Wild at Heart or any of the characters. I take no credit for either.**

**The Phone Call**

Danny passed a glass of champagne to each of the family members in turn, each receiving a glass happily and gratefully.

None of them could believe that Max and Rosie were finally getting married tomorrow, and all were ecstatically happy for the couple. But none more so than Rosie. She and Max had been waiting so long for this. Rosie hadn't wanted her wedding day to be forever associated with the death of her loving Step mother, Sarah, and she was glad that she and Max had a second chance, a chance to try again in happier circumstances. She was upset that Sarah would not be there to see them married, but Rosie knew she would be there in spirit.

Rosie suddenly put these painful memories from her mind, and forced herself to think of happier things. She did not want to ruin the magic and warmth of tonight's celebrations.

As she searched her brain for thoughts that would overcome the sadness of the latter, soothing and lovely scenes came swimming to the front of her mind; Caroline would be back tomorrow, and she would be able to see her dear friend Dup fall in love all over again. She would marry the man of her dreams tomorrow, everything would be brighter tomorrow.

The atmosphere surrounding them was so joyous and uplifting, it seemed that nothing could weigh it down. Well…Almost nothing.

Just as DuPlessis was proposing a toast to the young couple the phone started to ring. Dup suddenly became giddy with joy and leapt from his seat, almost sending all the champagne glasses flying, and frantically tried to make his way passed all the chairs to get to the phone. He knew only too well that the woman he loved was on the other end of that call.

He could hear the family laughing at his sudden change in behaviour, but he didn't care, all he cared about was getting to that phone and hearing his angel's sweet voice again. He had been without her for far too long. It had been months of torture not being able to see her every day, not being able to hear her voice for so long or her soft breathing when she slept, to feel her touch on his skin, to smell her sweet scent that produced a strange calming effect on him, to see her celestial ocean blue eyes and her knee weakening smile, to hold her in his arms as they sat in peaceful silence together on the sofa, which overlooked _their_ land, and positioned them so that they were bathed in the smouldering glow of the African sun.

Dup placed his hand over the phone, anticipating the beautiful sound that was her voice, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, his heart quickening with every ring, and lifted the phone to his ear.

"Hello!?" He began excitedly, his heart rate increasing in anticipation. Suddenly, he heard a soft laugh come through, and it cast a spell on him, making him feel weak. It was an unmistakeable laugh. 'It's her! Oh my God it's really her!' he thought, becoming ecstatic.

"Hello you," said the voice, that Dup was certain could be none other than his Caroline.

"Oh God Caroline I've missed you! There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish you were here." He said breathlessly, falling back into the chair that was placed next to the small table, which held the phone, thinking it was best to sit down before he swooned.

"Ohh Anders…I've missed you too, darling… I'd forgotten how sweet you were." You could hear the love and admiration resonating in her voice as she spoke to him.

Anders laughed nervously, 'Good God how does she still make me feel and act like a stupid, love struck school boy, after all this time?' he wondered, in awe of her power over him and his heart. She was so far away, and yet she still had his heart wherever she went, she still had this control over him.

"I can't wait to see you tomorrow…No I really can't!... I recon I won't sleep at all tonight, I'll be too excited," he stated adoringly.

Caroline sighed; she had to tell himnow, or it would break his heart even more and cut him even deeper, when he woke up the next day, and realised that she wasn't coming at all tomorrow.

"Caroline? You still there?" He questioned; she had been silent for a few moments, he was becoming concerned.

"Yeah I'm still here…Anders…Listen…I…I need to tell you something important." She began uncertainly. How could she tell him? _What_ would she tell him? It was so hard for her to do this, but she knew she had no choice. It was far too painful for her, to come back to Africa, and to the house where her only child's last resting place resided. She loved Anders with all her heart, and it was just as painful to leave him as it was to return to all the memories of her daughter's death.

"What is it sweetheart? What's wrong? Tell me, you could, and did, always tell me everything," He encouraged her, not knowing what he was encouraging her to say. What she did tell him was defiantly not what he was expecting in the slightest. 'I can't easily tell you this, my darling,' she thought with deep regret.

"Anders…"

"Yes love?" he said gently. Making it even harder for Caroline to continue. She felt like she was being suffocated with the words that her tongue just wouldn't allow her to articulate.

"Oh God this is so hard…" she said as tears began to build up in her eyes, losing her determination to speak those words. He was silent, he was waiting patiently for her to open up to him about, what he assumed was, something that had happened to her in England.

She forced the dreadful and poison filled words out, "Anders…I'm…I'm not coming back to Africa" she sighed deeply and continued, "I can't come back…It's too painful and too hard for me, to live on the same land that my own daughter was buried in. Leopard's Den reminds me too much of Sarah and I just…I just can't come back to those painful and terrible memories. It's painful enough just to know that she's gone but to be constantly reminded of it is just too much for my heart to bear." She was crying now.

Anders was speechless, he literally couldn't speak. The women he was due to marry had just told him that she was leaving him. He couldn't comprehend it. When they were together it had felt so right…so perfect. They had been so in love when they were together. After such a long and painful process of trying to gain each other's love the previous year, neither could believe that she was throwing it all away.

"Oh God Anders…Please, say something," she begged, her voice thick with emotion.

"I…What…What about us?" he stammered, barely able to speak while his heart was breaking.

"I know I'm being quite selfish Anders, but I can't come back…ever. I'm so sorry… Believe me; this is just as painful for me as it is for you. I hate myself for doing this to you sweetheart, but I have no choice." She attempted to explain but even she did not believe her own words, it was true that she felt the same pain, and she did hate doing this to him. But she felt that some of her words were feeble.

"Yes you _do_ have a choice; of course you have a choice. We both do," he tried desperately. His coral blues filling up with moisture.

"Anders…I'm sorry…Please, please don't make this harder than it already is. I love you with all my heart…I do…But I just can't be with you right now… There is nothing stopping you from coming up to see me in England… But I'm not expecting you to fly back and forth all the time though. It's not fair on you or the family. I know _this_ isn't fair to you either but my heart can't deal with coming back. It can barely deal with the thought that I can't be with you." She said becoming distraught. It was breaking her heart.

"But…I…I love you Caroline. Do you expect me just to give up? To just forget you? Which I can tell you is never going to happen! I love you, and nothing that you say or do is ever…_Ever_…going to change that," He stated finally.

He could hear Caroline crying with pure sorrow from the other end of the line. "I love you…I'm sorry…Anders I love you." She said barely above a whisper. And with that the line went dead. She was gone.

Anders sat there in silence and shock, he dropped the phone; it dangled in mid air with the dull buzz of the dead line still ringing through his head, signifying that she was truly gone. He couldn't move, he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe. Because she was what he got up for in the morning. She was what he thought about every moment, of every minute, of every day. She was what he breathed, what his heart beat for.

Just twenty minutes before, he had been the happiest man in the world, Caroline had been almost in reach, almost within his grasp. But now she seemed to be slipping through his fingers, becoming further and further away with every moment that passed.

Within twenty minutes his whole world had come crashing down around him, flaming, shattering into a million pieces, utterly destroyed.

He raised himself slowly from the chair, his legs feeling like lead. He wandered sub-consciously to the door that led out to the veranda. The atmosphere around him was so thick and heavy; it was like billowing smoke had engulfed him in his sorrow.

Rosie looked up at Dup, a smile still playing at the corners of her mouth. The smile faltered a bit as she noticed his change in body language.

"You alright Dup? What did Caroline say?" she queried, worried about him.

Dup was broken out of his trail of thought, and turned to the sea of concerned faces. He mustered up as much strength as he could to speak, and said, "Caroline's not coming back." The pain was evident in his seemingly, and strangely, hollow eyes. None of them had ever seen Dup look like this before.

"What do you mean? Is her flight cancelled, or…?" Rosie suggested.

Dup shook his head slowly. 'Oh God… Why did I have to come out here?! It's painful enough hearing it the first time!' he thought angrily. He swallowed hard, his throat felt as dry as the desert.

"She…She said this place reminds her too much of Sarah and…" he caught his breath, not able to continue, he sighed heavily.

There was a knowing look from the sea of faces. None could bear it. Their sympathy was evident in their eyes, and all felt it exceedingly strongly. It was obvious that none could believe that such a terrible thing was happening to poor Dup.

He forced the words out, "She doesn't think she can come back here…Ever," he said the latter in a whisper, as the pain became almost unbearable to experience.

"Ever?!" exclaimed Danny with a look of utter shock that was mutual among all of them.

Dup shook his head and then turned away from them. He couldn't cope with seeing their pitying stares, he was grateful for their sympathy, but he just couldn't deal with it all right now. He needed time to think…To get his head around what had just happened.

As he walked down the descending steps of the veranda, unsure of where he was heading, he felt his heart rip clean in two. And when he thought he was out of ear shot, behind the Animal Hospital, he let out a scream that sounded like the roar of a wounded creature, crying out in despair. Hot tears streamed down his face as he fell to the ground on his knees, a hand against the cold stone wall, the other clutching his chest as his heart broke again and again.

The family, unfortunately, did hear him. It was the most heart wrenching and horrid sound any of them had ever heard. This poor wounded creature had, had its heart broken once before, but this time it seemed to cause Dup further pain that he had ever experienced in his entire life. He didn't deserve it; everyone knew how much of a kind, sweet, and gentle soul he was. If he could, he would give everything he had to his family, and to Caroline. At that moment, he just wanted the ground to swallow him whole, he didn't want to live anymore; he didn't want to feel anymore. "God please just TAKE IT AWAY!!!" he yelled at the top of his voice until it went hoarse.

He couldn't live without her…He didn't want to live without her…He refused to. His wailing was all his grief, coming out of him in powerful waves, drowning him in his sorrow. Suffocating all thought, and his lungs. Making him gasp for breathe.

He was certain that this agony was going to kill him if he didn't see her again.

He _would_ see her again…He had to…He loved her too much…He was determined to be with her…No matter what he had to do or say…He_ would_ be with the woman he loved…He would be with Caroline.

Even if it meant leaving everything he knew, everything he was, everything that he cared about and believed in, behind him. Love was something he was willing to fight for. Caroline was the one he was willing to die for. He would never give up on her…Ever.

"I love you Caroline…and I'm going to find you…I don't care how long it takes, or how hard I have to fight…We are going to be together…We're in love…And there isn't any distance far enough that can keep us apart!..."


End file.
